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  We are thrilled to announce the expansion and next stage of our successful “Bees, Trees, Elephants and People Programme”.  Elephants Alive will be training the award-winning, all-female Black Mamba Anti-Poaching Unit to become bee-keepers. We now share Headquarters with the Black Mambas within the Greater Kruger National Park on the border of the Associated…

Fortunate the elephant had finally been spotted! This handsome bull elephant was first collared by Elephants Alive in 2015 and has played a crucial part in pioneering research, trying to understand why elephants are attracted to the Phalaborwa mine.  This large, open-cast mine is situated on the north-west boundaries of Kruger National Park in Limpopo,…

By Harriet Nimmo It seems that some traditional medical treatments are making a comeback and are forging their place alongside new technologies. Honey was used as a treatment for wounds by the ancient Egyptians and has been found in tombs dating from 3000BC.  And now here in Hoedspruit, local wildlife vet, Dr. Joel Alves, is…

By Harriet Nimmo Elephants Alive were called about a bull elephant on Mahlathini Private Game Reserve (north of Phalaborwa), that had been seen with a horrific snare injury on his front leg. The injured elephant had first been sighted a month ago – but had then disappeared and presumably left the open reserve. It was then spotted…

By Dr. Michelle Henley Matambu Most people who are part of the Associated Private Nature Reserves (APNR) have come to know Matambu. He is a true gentle giant in every sense of the word. Sometimes he bestows a great honor on us by contact rumbling when he senses us. Possibly, we have visited him frequently…

Elephants Alive is delighted to announce that Dr Michelle Henley, Director, Co-founder and Principal Researcher, has won the prestigious 2019 SANParks Kudu Award for Women in Conservation. This award recognises and celebrates women that are ground breakers in the area of conservation, environmental education, tourism and socio-economic development areas. In presenting this award, the aim…

By Anka Bedetti (Elephants Alive Tracking Projects Manager) Study Elephant Cow, Summer. Elephants in the Greater Kruger area are part of an open population roaming freely in the Greater Limpopo Transfrontier Conservation Area (GLTCA) and teach us that we still have a lot to learn when it comes to fully understanding their movements. Elephants Alive…

by Dr. Michelle Henley Credit: Julie Kern “What would the world be, once bereft of wet and of wilderness? Let them be left, o let them be left, wildness and wet; Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.” ~ Gerard Manley Hopkins (Inversnaid 1881) There is a special kind of peace to be found in…

The white-backed vulture (Gyps africanus) is a critically endangered species in the Greater Kruger National Park (Greater KNP), with adults being threatened by a variety of factors such as poisonings, electrocutions, muti-trade and habitat loss. These factors place great strain on an already decreasing population. However, as white-backed vultures nest at the top of big…

How many large-tusked bulls remain in the APNR? How socially connected are different population members? How successful are human-elephant conflict mitigation methods? These questions are all examples of key research objectives for Elephants Alive. If at first glance you think these questions have little in common, look again and you’ll see they all rely on…